Two major problems present themselves in the shipping and handling of fragile goods in protective packaging. Firstly, the package with the goods enclosed therein must be capable of withstanding accidental mechanical shocks and, secondly, the package must be able to maintain a stable loading configuration despite substantially continuous vibration. The use of strapping, palleting and square containers can minimize the problem of cargo shifting. Nevertheless, they are not complete panaceas and, moreover, may frequently be quite costly. Though virtually any problem of protective packaging can be solved technically by the use of greater masses of shock-absorbing material in the package, such a simplistic solution is wastefully uneconomical for comparatively large and heavy objects.
A most graphic illustration of this quandary is the shipment of acids and other materials in, for example, 61/2 gallon carboys. Heretofore, such containers have been shipped in two-part packages having upper and lower sections which are flanged at either the top or the middle. Such containers have usually been substantially cylindrical or frustoconical in shape, except for the protrusion of the flange, and were molded in two-part molds, the parting line of which were located at the matching edge of the flange. Such containers have been largely satisfactory from the standpoint of shock resistance standards required by Federal regulations heretofore in effect; however, they require an excessive amount of shock absorbent material and are quite prone to incur a rocking action when they are packed in a shipping compartment. Furthermore, containers of this type have been found to be inadequate to comply with new Federal DOT regulations for shock resistance.